Fathers entered the policy agenda in Britain, as elsewhere, at the end of the 1980s. Superficially, the debates in many Northern European countries and in the United States look somewhat similar, revolving mainly around the responsibilities of fathers to maintain and to care for their children. However, there have been real differences in what has driven the policy debate in the different countries and in the nature of the policy response.

In respect of the policy debate, the balance between concern about fathers' roles as providers and as carers has been different in the different countries. In Scandinavia, where the dual-earner model is firmly established and where adult citizenship is tied to participation in the labor market, the focus has been more upon the care provided by fathers, and has been part of the debate about achieving greater equality in the division of unpaid as well as of paid work. In Britain, which has historically adhered to a strong male breadwinner model in terms of its social policies, more emphasis has been put on the obligation of fathers to maintain. Care has been secondary in the debate, although there has been considerable concern about the effects of father-absence on children (whether as a result of divorce or unmarried motherhood), which has filtered through from the American as well as the British psychology literature.